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Fantastic Tour with Japan Custom Tours!

We have just returned from a three week tour of Japan with Patrick Harnett and JCT! There aren't... read more

Reviewed December 6, 2024
runnerbb
,
Toronto, Canada
The road less travelled Remote Japan

My husband & I have just returned from a private tour -3 weeks with JCT "Remote Japan". We wanted a... read more

Reviewed November 14, 2024
Leanne L
,
Brisbane, Australia
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Recommended experiences in and around Shinjuku
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Reviewed April 24, 2018

Just returned from a 15-day tour around Japan & it greatly exceeded our expectations. I found Japan Custom Tours through TripAdvisor reviews, which were all 5-star; we definitely concur. Many tour agencies provide a rail pass but expect you to get from place to place on your own. We wanted a guided tour & this was just perfect.
From the beginning when I formed the itinerary with Patrick for our group of 4 (2 couples), all details were handled very professionally. Our actual guides were Koji and Wendy (that’s right-2 guides for 4 people!). They planned our excursions carefully so that we had maximum sightseeing opportunities, but also time to rest every day. They tried to include activities which would appeal to the husbands, who were tiring of the many shrines. They were able to get us 4 tickets to the Yayoi Kusama museum in Tokyo, & this is very difficult.
All travel was by train except for occasional taxis, & all of our seats were reserved ahead of time. Koji expertly navigated through all the stations & we never missed a train. Hotels were almost always just across the street from the train station & they were all excellent.
They had advised us to bring only carry-on luggage for ease in the trains & crowds. Incredibly, Wendy did our laundry 3 times during the tour, & she refused any payment!
They helped us non-adventurers enjoy different varieties of Japanese food.
And to top it all off we saw LOTS of cherry blossoms!

Date of experience: April 2018
Thank lynne1956SanMateo_CA
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed April 22, 2018

We had one day in Tokyo for a day trip to see MT. Fuji. I contacted Japan Custom Tour based on the TripAdvisor ratings and we were extremely lucky that Patrick was available for a day tour.

What a great day! Patrick met the 4 of us at our hotel and we were off to the train station for our adventure on a beautiful but cold day. He tailored the day to our personal needs (one of us cannot walk long distances).

We learned so much about the area and the sights. Patrick is amazing --- it's like visiting an old friend who shot you his country. We cannot say enough good things about his abilities, We would love to do a longer tour of Japan, if we can, some day in the future and would definitely choose Japan Custom Tours again.

Date of experience: February 2018
Thank LKN-NC
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed April 11, 2018

Wow! What a holiday. Japan Custom Tours, in particular Patrick, has spoiled us for any further overseas tours with this holiday turning out so much better than we had ever imagined. Patrick met us at the airport as arranged and stayed with us throughout the whole 2 week tour - He arranged all accommodation which was excellent, reserved train tickets, navigated us through the complexities of busy train stations and subway systems and went out of his way to ensure that we saw as much of Japan as was possible in the time available. His in-depth knowledge of Japanese culture and street wise experience made our Japanese travel truly pleasurable. Without a doubt, this is the best overseas holiday that we have ever had thanks to Patrick and his company – JCT deserves the highest recommendation possible. Thanks again.

Ray and Lyn

Date of experience: March 2018
2  Thank rayovens
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed April 9, 2018

With Patrick's knowledge and ability to guide us through Japan,our tour turned out to far more than expected. We most certainly would never have seen so much on our own. Accommodation was excellent and and from start to finish this tour was one of the best trips we have had.

Alan & Gloria

Date of experience: March 2018
Thank citybrisbane
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed April 5, 2018

My first contact was with Patrick and he was excellent. Patrick was so helpful and prompt with email replies before we even commited to a tour. First class service.
Our actual tour was conducted by Koji and Wendy and they were excellent as well. They were very friendly, knowledgeable, prepared to be flexible with our schedule and gave our small tour group and awesome experience and introduction to Japan.
Once our tour group was assigned to Wendy and Koji, Wendy provided terrific email contact ahead of our holiday.
My husband and I travelled with 2 close friends and 2 other lovely ladies.
We found out that JCT are even thoughtful and mindful in matching up suitable people together for the tours.
Tour groups are very small which is awesome and what appealed us. They also keep in touch constantly ahead of the tour with updates and great general info to help you prepare.
JCT suggested travelling with a small suitcase and all our group followed this advice and did not regret this decision. You need to be responsible for transporting your own luggage and we were all well aware of this fact before travelling, so prepared.
Most of our travel was by train and occasionally by taxi getting to various tourist spots.
JCT pre-arranges all accommodation and train travel and are excellent in navigating the tour group around. All tickets into the tourist places we visited were covered in the tour cost and handled directly by Koji or Wendy as well.
There is a lot of walking involved (including up and down stairs) so you need a reasonable level of fitness and agility to manage this.
Read their website and communicate with them to obtain info.
I can highly recommend this company for so many reasons.
Thank you JCT. What an awesome trio !!

Date of experience: March 2018
1  Thank mrobbins58
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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